Creating rating requests for groups of consumption items

ABSTRACT

Computer-implemented methods, computer-readable media, and computer systems for processing transactions are described. A provider contract associated with a particular account is identified. In response to determining that the identified provider contract is associated with a periodic activity, a rating request is created that is associated with the particular account. The created rating request associated with the particular account is added to a queue of consumption items for processing, so that the created rating request, when processed, triggers an action corresponding to the determined periodic activity at an external system.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to computer-implemented methods andsystems for processing information.

BACKGROUND

Usage-related transactions, such as consumption items related totelecommunications (e.g., call detail records), may be processed on aper-transaction basis or as a group of transactions related to aparticular account and time period. For example, some of thetransactions may be rated (e.g., having an assigned price), and theremaining transaction may be unrated. The contract that is associatedwith a particular customer or entity may stipulate, for example, thatthe transactions are to be handled in a certain way. For example, someor all of the transactions may apply to fixed-price billing for theaccount, so that transactions, whether rated or unrated, result in afixed billing amount for a given time period. Other contracts canspeculate that a certain amount of use (e.g., 500 minutes of phone calltime) is free (or included in a flat price) under a particular contractoption, but transactions exceeding the contracted level of use are to becharged an additional rate. At that end of a billing cycle, for example,a customer can be billed depending on an amount of use and a currentcontract.

SUMMARY

The disclosure generally describes computer-implemented methods,computer-readable media, and computer systems for processingtransactions. As an example, a provider contract associated with aparticular account is identified. In response to determining that theidentified provider contract is associated with a periodic activity, arating request is created that is associated with the particularaccount. The created rating request associated with the particularaccount is added to a queue of consumption items for processing, so thatthe created rating request, when processed, triggers an actioncorresponding to the determined periodic activity at an external system.

The present disclosure relates to computer-implemented methods,computer-readable media, and computer systems for processingtransactions. One computer-implemented method includes: identifying aprovider contract associated with a particular account; in response todetermining that the identified provider contract is associated with aperiodic activity, creating a rating request associated with theparticular account; and adding the created rating request associatedwith the particular account to a queue of consumption items forprocessing, wherein the created rating request, when processed, triggersan action corresponding to the determined periodic activity at anexternal system.

Other implementations of this aspect include corresponding computersystems, apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or morecomputer storage devices, each configured to perform the actions of themethods. A system of one or more computers can be configured to performparticular operations or actions by virtue of having software, firmware,hardware, or a combination of software, firmware, or hardware installedon the system that in operation causes or causes the system to performthe actions. One or more computer programs can be configured to performparticular operations or actions by virtue of including instructionsthat, when executed by data processing apparatus, cause the apparatus toperform the actions.

The foregoing and other implementations can each optionally include oneor more of the following features, alone or in combination. Inparticular, one implementation can include all the following features:

In a first aspect, combinable with any of the previous aspects, aconsumption item is a telecommunication charge related to call or amessage.

In a second aspect, combinable with any of the previous aspects,identifying the provider contract associated with the particular accountis performed in response to a mass activity, wherein the mass activityis performed for a plurality of provider contracts or accounts.

In a third aspect, combinable with any of the previous aspects, the massactivity is performed once in a billing cycle.

In a fourth aspect, combinable with any of the previous aspects,processing consumption items includes processing consumption items byrating groups.

In a fifth aspect, combinable with any of the previous aspects, ratingrequests are associated with a rating request-specific rating group.

In a sixth aspect, combinable with any of the previous aspects,processing a rating request includes triggering actions on the externalsystem, including actions for executing a web service, including toverify information in the consumption items or to access additionalinformation associated with the consumption items or the particularaccount.

In a seventh aspect, combinable with any of the previous aspects,executing the web service includes connecting the system to contractactivation of particular account.

In an eighth aspect, combinable with any of the previous aspects, inresponse to executing the web service, a new consumption item isreceived from the external system, and wherein the new receivedconsumption item is processed.

The details of one or more implementations of the subject matter of thisspecification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and thedescription below. Other features, aspects, and advantages of thesubject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings,and the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example environment forprocessing consumption items.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of an example method for creating a ratingrequest for use in processing consumption items.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of an example process 300 for creating andprocessing rating requests.

FIG. 4 shows a swim lane diagram of an example process 400 for creatingrating requests.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This disclosure generally describes computer-implemented methods,computer-readable media, and computer systems for creating a ratingrequest for use in processing consumption items. The followingdescription is presented to enable any person skilled in the art topractice the disclosed subject matter, and is provided in the context ofone or more particular implementations. Various modifications to thedisclosed implementations will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied toother implementations and applications without departing from scope ofthe disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to belimited to the described and/or illustrated implementations, but is tobe accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and featuresdisclosed herein.

Rating requests can be used to trigger certain activities in externalsystems on a periodic basis. For example, a rating request for use inprocessing call detail records associated with a customer's phone plancan indicate how the call detail records are to be processed. In someimplementations, the call detail records and the rating request can beused to generate consumption items, e.g., that are processed for billingpurposes. In convergent charging, for example, rating requests can beused to create recurring charges (e.g., for flat-rate contracts or othersituations). The usage rating can be based, for example, on counterssuch as “free minutes per month.” In some implementations, the counterscan be reset periodically, such as at the end of a period (e.g., thecustomer's billing cycle). The period until the counters are resettypically ends at the date that the recurring charge is created. Forexample, if a recurring charge applies for the month of January, then acounter associated with “free minutes” is typically reset at the end ofJanuary, or the end of the billing cycle for the applicablecustomer/account.

In conventional systems, for example, the creation of the recurringcharge and the counter reset must be triggered explicitly. For example,the trigger can be: a) a usage event in January that has to be rated orb) a basic scheduler in a convergent charging function that creates therecurring charges for all contracts in the system. However, incomputer-implemented methods, computer-readable media, and computersystems described herein, triggers can be automatic. For example,recurring charges and a reset of counter values can occur automaticallyand in a timely fashion, e.g., before the invoice is issued to thecustomer, it has to be ensured that the recurring charge has beencreated. In some implementations, the recurring charge can include anactivation date, e.g., that corresponds to the end of a billing cycle.

In some implementations, a mass activity function can create a group ofrating requests, e.g., that have the goal of triggering the activationof recurring charges periodically, such as for multiplecustomers/accounts having the same billing cycle. The rating requestscan be created automatically and are connected, and based upon, theactivation of contracts. The connection between rating requests and thespecific contracts on which they are based facilitates the activation ofrecurring charges and resetting the counters.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment 100 for processing consumptionitems. Specifically, the illustrated environment 100 includes at leastone data processing system 110, including a queue of consumption items126, and any number of external systems 130, each having remote datarecords 132 to be processed by the data processing system 110. Theenvironment 100 further includes at least one provider system 134 thatincludes account and contract information 136. The data processingsystem 110, the external system(s) 130, and the provider system(s) 134are communicably coupled using a network 102.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates a single data processing system 110, theenvironment 100 can be implemented using two or more data processingsystems 110, each capable of processing consumption items. Theenvironment 100 can also be implemented using computers, servers, orother components. Indeed, components of the environment 100 may be anycomputer or processing device. According to some implementations,components of the environment 100 may also include, or be communicablycoupled with, an e-mail server, a web server, a caching server, astreaming data server, and/or other suitable server(s). In someimplementations, components of the environment 100 may be distributed indifferent locations and coupled using the network 102.

The data processing system 110 includes an interface 112, a processor114, a contract identification module 116 for identifying contractinformation, a rating request generator 118 for generating ratingrequests, a rating request dispatcher 120 for inserting rating requestsinto the queue of consumption items 126, a mass activity generator 122,and a memory 124. The interface 112 can be used by the data processingsystem 110 for communicating with external systems 130 and providersystems 134 in a distributed environment, connected to the network 102,as well as other systems (not illustrated) communicably coupled to thenetwork 102. Generally, the interface 112 comprises logic encoded insoftware and/or hardware in a suitable combination and operable tocommunicate with the network 102. More specifically, the interface 112may comprise software supporting one or more communication protocolsassociated with communications such that the network 102 or interface'shardware is operable to communicate physical signals within and outsideof the illustrated environment 100.

The contract identification module 116, for example, can identifyprovider contracts for particular user accounts, such as a cell phonecontract for a cell phone plan that a customer has with a phone carrier.In some implementations, the provider contract can be identified fromaccount and contract information 136 at the provider system 134associated with the contract.

The rating request generator 118, for example, can create a ratingrequest that is associated with a particular account. For example, therating request generator 118 can create a rating request for Customer Xthat indicates that the detail records for the customer are to beprocessed in a certain way and at a specific time. The way in which therecords are to be processed, for example, can depend on information inthe customer's contract, e.g., identified from account and contractinformation 136. More detailed examples of creating rating requests areprovided below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/139,630, entitled “Flexible Rating based on Rating Areas andRating Groups,” which is assigned to the assignee of the presentinvention and is hereby incorporated by reference, describes methods forgenerating rating requests.

The rating request dispatcher 120, for example, can add the ratingrequest created by the rating request generator 118 to the queue ofconsumption items 126 for processing. For example, the rating requestcan be used to generate a “dummy” or placeholder consumption item, e.g.,that is not a detailed record to be processed but rather includesinformation that designates how consumption items are to be processed.

The mass activity generator 122 can create a mass activity that is setup to process consumption items for multiple customers. For example, themass activity generator 122 can trigger the generation of ratingrequests for each of the provider contracts or accounts to be processedin a batch, e.g., for a specific period of time, such as a billingcycle.

The processor 114 can be used by the contract identification module 116,the rating request generator 118, the rating request dispatcher 120, andthe mass activity generator 122 to perform their functions. Althoughillustrated as the single processor 114 in FIG. 1, two or moreprocessors 114 may be used according to particular needs, desires, orparticular implementations of the environment 100. Generally, theprocessor 114 executes instructions and manipulates data to perform theoperations of the contract identification module 116, the rating requestgenerator 118, the rating request dispatcher 120, and the mass activitygenerator 122.

The data processing system 110 also includes the memory 124. Althoughillustrated as a single memory 124 in FIG. 1, two or more memories 124may be used according to particular needs, desires, or particularimplementations of the environment 100. While memory 124 is illustratedas an integral component of the data processing system 110, inalternative implementations, memory 124 can be external to the dataprocessing system 110 and/or the environment 100. In someimplementations, memory 124 includes the queue of consumption items 126.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of an example method 200 for creating a ratingrequest for use in processing consumption items. For clarity ofpresentation, the description that follows generally describes method200 in the context of FIG. 1. However, it will be understood that themethod 200 may be performed, for example, by any other suitable system,environment, software, and hardware, or a combination of systems,environments, software, and hardware as appropriate.

At 202, a provider contract associated with a particular account isidentified. As an example, the contract identification module 116 canidentify a contract for a particular user account, such as a cell phonecontract for a cell phone plan that the user has with a phone carrier.In some implementations, the provider contract can be identified fromaccount and contract information 136 at the provider system 134associated with the contract.

In some implementations, identifying the provider contract associatedwith the particular account is performed in response to a mass activity,and the mass activity is performed for a plurality of provider contractsor accounts. For example, the mass activity generator 122 can create amass activity that is set up to process consumption items (e.g., calldetail records) for multiple customers. The mass activity, for example,can include processing call detail records for each of the providercontracts or accounts to be included in a batch. The batch processingcan be for a specific period of time, a specific number of records, orfor another type of grouping of records. In some implementations, themain purpose of a mass activity is the execution of a certain task in aparallel manner (e.g., multi-threaded). For example, execution can occurin batch mode, e.g., an execution without dialog steps and notnecessarily using multi-threading.

In some implementations, the mass activity is performed once in abilling cycle. As an example, the mass activity generator 122 can createa mass activity that is to be performed for all customers who have abilling cycle that ends on the same day, or some other group ofcustomers. The mass activity can occur, for example, at month-end, atperiod-end, or on demand. In another example, the mass activity can beperformed daily, and some accounts may be processed on certain days,e.g., on an as-needed basis or near the end of the billing cycle for acustomer. In another example, a mass activity can be performed to createrating requests for multiple customers or accounts, where the ratingrequests correspond to a one-time promotion, discount, event or specialpurpose. In some implementations, a date-time of the prior generationcan be maintained, and a comparison of the current date to themaintained prior generation date-time can be made to determine ifanother rating request is to be added. In some implementations, amaintained date/time can be used with maintained settings/rules.

At 204, in response to determining that the identified provider contractis associated with a periodic activity, a rating request is created thatis associated with the particular account. Creating the rating request,for example, can occur at the appropriate time to prepare the processand generate the rating request. For example, the rating requestgenerator 118 can create a rating request for Customer X that indicatesthat the detail records for the customer are to be processed in acertain way and at a specific time. The way in which the records are tobe processed, for example, can depend on information in the customer'scontract. For example, if the contract is a phone carrier contractassociated with the customer's cell phone plan, then the contract canindicate that the first 500 minutes are free (e.g., included in a basephone plan at a flat price) and additional calls are to be charged apredetermined per-minute rate. The contract can also indicate thatcertain types of calls are to be charged (or not charged) differently,e.g., based on time of day, parties (e.g., recipient/caller) involved inthe call, the length of the call, the type of plans of the other parties(e.g., whether or not the other parties are in the same network),promotions involved with the customer's plans, group pricing, and/orother aspects of the contract. The rating request can also includeinformation that indicates whether the period is a complete or a partialperiod, whether the customer is a new or existing customer, and whetherthe customer is closing the account (e.g., to generate a final bill). Insome instances, the rating request can simply be a placeholder that saysto trigger an act without details included therein, e.g., to produceconsumption items for details associated with the information.

At 206, the created rating request associated with the particularaccount is added to a queue of consumption items for processing, so thatthe created rating request, when processed, triggers an actioncorresponding to the determined periodic activity at an external system.For example, the rating request dispatcher 120 can add the createdrating request to the queue of consumption items 126. In someimplementations, the rating request can result in the creation of morethan one consumption item that is added to the queue of consumptionitems 126, e.g., to handle complete processing requirements. In someimplementations, rating requests that are added to the queue ofconsumption items 126 can be added so that the rating requests areprocessed first, e.g., so that the consumption items associated with therating request will be processed in a certain way.

In some implementations, a consumption item is a telecommunicationcharge related to call or a message. For example, the consumption itemsin the queue of consumption items 126 can be call detail records, eachone representing a single call or a single text message or some otherindividual or group of consumption items. Other consumption items arepossible, e.g., including songs, videos, pay-per-view movies or otherentertainment and/or media, pay-as-you-go items such as data downloads(e.g., Internet usage), or other content or usage.

In some implementations, processing consumption items includesprocessing consumption items by rating groups. As an example, theprocessor 114, when processing consumption items from the queue ofconsumption items 126, can process the consumption items by groups basedon how the consumption items are to be processed. For example, onerating group may exist for consumption items that are to allow acustomer's first 500 minutes in a billing cycle to be free. Anotherrating group, for example, can include consumption items that are to becharged solely on the length of a call, the size of a download, or someother metric.

In some implementations, rating requests are associated with a ratingrequest-specific rating group. For example, the rating request generator118 can create a rating request that is specific to a particular type ofcontract, e.g., 500 free minutes and 10 cents per minute over the limit.

In some implementations, processing a rating request includes triggeringactions on the external system, including actions for executing a webservice, including to verify information in the consumption items or toaccess additional information associated with the consumption items orthe particular account. For example, the rating request generator canadd information in a rating request so that, when the rating request isprocessed from the queue of consumption items, the rating request willcause external web services to be accessed to verify information, toobtain addition information to be used during processing, and/or togenerate consumption items at the external systems that will later bereceived at the processing system (e.g., added to a processing queuelater).

In some implementations, executing the web service includes connectingthe system to contract activation of particular account. Further,executing the web service can cause the contract to be analyzed and anyperiodic charges/credits/actions to be generated. For example, a call toa web service that occurs during processing of a rating request cancause an account to be accessed, activated, or some other action. As anexample, a rating request inserted as a consumption item associated witha phone plan can include an account activation (or some other action)for a non-phone service (e.g., satellite TV, broadband service, longdistance service, land lines, etc.) that is bundled with the phone planfor billing purposes.

In some implementations, in response to executing the web service, a newconsumption item is received from the external system, and the newreceived consumption item is processed. For example, informationreceived from the external system can be used by the rating requestgenerator 118 to generate one or more additional consumption items to beadded to the queue of consumption items 126, e.g., to be processedimmediately or at a later time.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of an example process 300 for creating andprocessing rating requests. For clarity of presentation, the descriptionthat follows generally describes process 300 in the context of FIG. 1.However, it will be understood that the process 300 may be performed,for example, by any other suitable system, environment, software, andhardware, or a combination of systems, environments, software, andhardware as appropriate.

The process 300 includes processing and operations that occur, forexample, in a mediation system 302 and a processing system 304. Forexample, the mediation system 302 can collect and store call detailrecords 306 that are to be provided to the processing system 304 forprocessing. Call detail records 306, for example, can be records thatinclude information for individual phone calls and/or other billable ornon-billable customer activities, such as in the customer's phone plan.For example, call detail records 306 can be the remote data records 132of an external system 130. In some implementations, the process 300 cansupport (or support interfacing with) at least one customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) system, e.g., that may also generate consumption itemsand/or billable items. Example CRM-related consumption items can includecredit memos that are created from a CRM front-end for call centeragents and consumption items that are created for use in customerself-service (e.g., a charge for creation of an intermediate bill). Insome implementations, billable items or consumption items can be sent bymiddleware systems and/or by other third-party or legacy systems.

Call detail records 306, once they reach the processing system 304, canbecome consumption items 308 that are collected by the processing system304. For example, the consumption items 308 are data records to beprocessed by the processing system 304, such as for billing, invoicing,reporting or other purposes. In addition to including information fromcall detail records 306, the consumption items 308 can includeconsumption items that are created manually (e.g., manually captureditems 310) and rating requests 312. For example, rating requests 312 canbe created as described below with respect to FIG. 4.

The processing system 304 can collect selected consumption items, buildrating groups, and send the consumption items for each group to a ratingmodule 313 which can be assigned in a rating group configuration. Arating group determination 314, for example, can determine whichconsumption items 308 are rated (or unrated) and which ones need to berated (or unrated). Example components of rating module 313 include therating function for convergent invoicing 318, which can provide a directderivation of billable items 324 using consumption items 308. In anotherexample, a rating activation module 316 can call existing web servicesfor activating contracts for a given date and to provide consumptionitems for a rating in convergent charging 320. For example, the ratingactivation module 316 can activate a contract if activation has notalready been done before for the given time period, e.g., based oninstructions in a rating request 312 associated with a rating group ofconsumption items. As a result, recurring components defined in a chargeare triggered if their execution date has been reached, and billableitems are sent to convergent invoicing 318 for further processing with asubsequent bulk loading run 322. With this, billable items 324 neededfor billing 326 are processed (e.g., for a particular billing period).For the processing system 304 to be able to process rated and unratedconsumption items in this way, triggering is to occur at the rightmoment of the bill cycle. For example, a new transaction, in the form ofa rating request 312, is created and inserted by the processing system304 as a consumption item 308 for the creation of the rating requestsaccording to the cycle of the contract. In some implementations, aninvoicing activity 329 can produce invoicing documents 330 usinginformation from at least billing 326.

FIG. 4 shows a swim lane diagram of an example process 400 for creatingrating requests. For example, rating requests can be tied to, and becreated for, particular billing cycles for particular customers oraccounts. Each rating request that is created in the process 400, forexample, can serve as a “dummy” consumption item that, instead ofcontaining information (e.g., a phone call detail record) to beprocessed, includes instructions that indicate how a group ofconsumption items are to be processed. For example, the instructions canindicate that the consumption items are to be processed in a certain wayand as a group for a particular customer and time period. In someimplementations, multiple rating requests can be initiated by a massactivity generator 402 which can use provider 404 information (e.g.,contract information on a per customer basis) to customize settings in aparticular rating request for the customer (e.g., based on thecustomer's phone plan or other contract). The process 400 can use datatables 406 (e.g., to control processing) and create rating requests tobe used as consumption items 408. The process 400 includes processes andprocessing associated with elements 402-408.

For example, rating request creation can be initiated by the massactivity generator 402. In some implementations, the mass activitygenerator 402 can include a main module for generating rating requestsfor a large group of customers. Initiating the creation of ratingrequests can occur at month-end, at the end of a group of customers'billing cycles, as one-time events, or in other situations. For example,for a mass activity in which multiple rating requests are to begenerated, the mass activity generator 402 can read information from adatabase table that identifies which rating requests (e.g., period orscheduled) have been created and which ones need to be created. Forexample, the database tables can indicate that a request has alreadybeen created for a customer, e.g., in a certain period. The massactivity generator 402 can continue generating rating requests, forexample, until unprocessed periods are processed and the desired dataare created and added to a historical database table to indicate whichrating requests were created and when. Consumption items can be createdfor each rating request, e.g., one consumption item per customer (oraccount), per period, as described in the following example operations.

At 410, for example, a provider contract associated with thecustomer/account is read, e.g., using contract information provided bythe provider 404. The contract information can indicate, for example,how transactions (e.g., call detail records) are to be handled for thecustomer/account. For example, the contract that the customer has withthe provider 404 can indicate that the first 500 minutes of calls arefree, or included, in the calling plan for that customer. The contractmay also indicate that call minutes exceeding 500 minutes are to becharged a flat rate. Other contracts for other customers, for example,can indicate that each call is to be charged according to a scheduledrate, e.g., based on length of call. Other contracts can includeinformation that indicates how text messages, data downloads, and/orother consumption items are to be charged.

At 412, for example, a determination is made as to whether a ratingrequest is needed for processing the consumption items associated withthe contract, e.g., based on information in the contract. For example,if the contract stipulates that charges are simply to be processed basedon usage (e.g., for a flat fee), then no rating request is necessary, asthe process 400 can process the records as they exist. However, if thecontract stipulates some kind of a usage plan limit, then it can bedetermined that a rating request is needed. In some instances, thedetermination may be a simple determination as to whether the ratingrequest for a particular period has been generated, with minimalinformation associated with the reason for the creation of the ratingrequest provided.

At 414, for example, the rating request is created. For example, if thecontract stipulates a flat fee for 500 minutes (with per-minute overagecharge for exceeding the limit), then the rating request can indicatethose details. The rating request can indicate, for example, to “billthe customer X dollars for up to 500 minutes, and Y cents per minute forcalls exceeding 500 minutes.” In some implementations, the ratingrequest that is created can be inserted into the consumption items 408,as another consumption item.

At 416, for example, a data table 406 (or some other database entry) isupdated with the date and time that the rating request was added to theconsumption items 408. For example, the data table 406 can serve as anupdated history table that keeps track of rating requests that have beencreated, e.g., on a customer/account, time period basis.

The preceding figures and accompanying description illustrate exampleprocesses and computer implementable techniques. But example environment100 (or its software or other components) contemplates using,implementing, or executing any suitable technique for performing theseand other tasks. It will be understood that these processes are forillustration purposes only and that the described or similar techniquesmay be performed at any appropriate time, including concurrently,individually, in parallel, and/or in combination. In addition, many ofthe operations in these processes may take place simultaneously,concurrently, in parallel, and/or in different orders than as shown.Moreover, example environment 100 may use processes with additional,fewer and/or different operations, as long as the methods remainappropriate.

In other words, although this disclosure has been described in terms ofcertain implementations and generally associated methods, alterationsand permutations of these implementations and methods will be apparentto those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the above description ofexample implementations does not define or constrain this disclosure.Other changes, substitutions, and alterations are also possible withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

Implementations of the subject matter and the functional operationsdescribed in this specification can be implemented in digital electroniccircuitry, in tangibly-embodied computer software or firmware, incomputer hardware, including the structures disclosed in thisspecification and their structural equivalents, or in combinations ofone or more of them. Implementations of the subject matter described inthis specification can be implemented as one or more computer programs,i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on atangible, non-transitory computer-storage medium for execution by, or tocontrol the operation of, data processing apparatus. Alternatively or inaddition, the program instructions can be encoded on anartificially-generated propagated signal, e.g., a machine-generatedelectrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal that is generated toencode information for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus forexecution by a data processing apparatus. The computer-storage mediumcan be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storagesubstrate, a random or serial access memory device, or a combination ofone or more of them.

The term “data processing apparatus” refers to data processing hardwareand encompasses all kinds of apparatus, devices, and machines forprocessing data, including by way of example, a programmable processor,a computer, or multiple processors or computers. The apparatus can alsobe or further include special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a FPGA (field programmable gate array), or anASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). In some implementations,the data processing apparatus and/or special purpose logic circuitry maybe hardware-based and/or software-based. The apparatus can optionallyinclude code that creates an execution environment for computerprograms, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocolstack, a database management system, an operating system, or acombination of one or more of them. The present disclosure contemplatesthe use of data processing apparatuses with or without conventionaloperating systems, for example LINUX, UNIX, WINDOWS, MAC OS, ANDROID,IOS or any other suitable conventional operating system.

A computer program, which may also be referred to or described as aprogram, software, a software application, a module, a software module,a script, or code, can be written in any form of programming language,including compiled or interpreted languages, or declarative orprocedural languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as astand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unitsuitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program may, butneed not, correspond to a file in a file system. A program can be storedin a portion of a file that holds other programs or data, e.g., one ormore scripts stored in a markup language document, in a single filededicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files,e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub-programs, or portions ofcode. A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computeror on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributedacross multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.While portions of the programs illustrated in the various figures areshown as individual modules that implement the various features andfunctionality through various objects, methods, or other processes, theprograms may instead include a number of sub-modules, third-partyservices, components, libraries, and such, as appropriate. Conversely,the features and functionality of various components can be combinedinto single components as appropriate.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can beperformed by one or more programmable computers executing one or morecomputer programs to perform functions by operating on input data andgenerating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performedby, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logiccircuitry, e.g., a CPU, a FPGA, or an ASIC.

Computers suitable for the execution of a computer program can be basedon general or special purpose microprocessors, both, or any other kindof CPU. Generally, a CPU will receive instructions and data from aread-only memory (ROM) or a random access memory (RAM) or both. Theessential elements of a computer are a CPU for performing or executinginstructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions anddata. Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupledto, receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more massstorage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks,or optical disks. However, a computer need not have such devices.Moreover, a computer can be embedded in another device, e.g., a mobiletelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio or videoplayer, a game console, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, or aportable storage device, e.g., a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive,to name just a few.

Computer-readable media (transitory or non-transitory, as appropriate)suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include allforms of non-volatile memory, media and memory devices, including by wayof example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM), electrically-erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EEPROM), and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g.,internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; andCD-ROM, DVD+/-R, DVD-RAM, and DVD-ROM disks. The memory may storevarious objects or data, including caches, classes, frameworks,applications, backup data, jobs, web pages, web page templates, databasetables, repositories storing business and/or dynamic information, andany other appropriate information including any parameters, variables,algorithms, instructions, rules, constraints, or references thereto.Additionally, the memory may include any other appropriate data, such aslogs, policies, security or access data, reporting files, as well asothers. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, orincorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, implementations of the subjectmatter described in this specification can be implemented on a computerhaving a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube), LCD (liquidcrystal display), LED (Light Emitting Diode), or plasma monitor, fordisplaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device,e.g., a mouse, trackball, or trackpad by which the user can provideinput to the computer. Input may also be provided to the computer usinga touchscreen, such as a tablet computer surface with pressuresensitivity, a multi-touch screen using capacitive or electric sensing,or other type of touchscreen. Other kinds of devices can be used toprovide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedbackprovided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visualfeedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from theuser can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactileinput. In addition, a computer can interact with a user by sendingdocuments to and receiving documents from a device that is used by theuser; for example, by sending web pages to a web browser on a user'sclient device in response to requests received from the web browser.

The term “graphical user interface,” or GUI, may be used in the singularor the plural to describe one or more graphical user interfaces and eachof the displays of a particular graphical user interface. Therefore, aGUI may represent any graphical user interface, including but notlimited to, a web browser, a touch screen, or a command line interface(CLI) that processes information and efficiently presents theinformation results to the user. In general, a GUI may include aplurality of user interface (UI) elements, some or all associated with aweb browser, such as interactive fields, pull-down lists, and buttonsoperable by the business suite user. These and other UI elements may berelated to or represent the functions of the web browser.

Implementations of the subject matter described in this specificationcan be implemented in a computing system that includes a back-endcomponent, e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middlewarecomponent, e.g., an application server, or that includes a front-endcomponent, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface ora web browser through which a user can interact with an implementationof the subject matter described in this specification, or anycombination of one or more such back-end, middleware, or front-endcomponents. The components of the system can be interconnected by anyform or medium of wireline and/or wireless digital data communication,e.g., a communication network. Examples of communication networksinclude a local area network (LAN), a radio access network (RAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WIMAX), a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) using, for example, 802.11a/b/g/n and/or 802.20, all or aportion of the Internet, and/or any other communication system orsystems at one or more locations. The network may communicate with, forexample, Internet Protocol (IP) packets, Frame Relay frames,Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) cells, voice, video, data, and/or othersuitable information between network addresses.

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

In some implementations, any or all of the components of the computingsystem, both hardware and/or software, may interface with each otherand/or the interface using an application programming interface (API)and/or a service layer. The API may include specifications for routines,data structures, and object classes. The API may be either computerlanguage independent or dependent and refer to a complete interface, asingle function, or even a set of APIs. The service layer providessoftware services to the computing system. The functionality of thevarious components of the computing system may be accessible for allservice consumers via this service layer. Software services providereusable, defined business functionalities through a defined interface.For example, the interface may be software written in JAVA, C++, orother suitable language providing data in extensible markup language(XML) format or other suitable format. The API and/or service layer maybe an integral and/or a stand-alone component in relation to othercomponents of the computing system. Moreover, any or all parts of theservice layer may be implemented as child or sub-modules of anothersoftware module, enterprise application, or hardware module withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of anyimplementation or on the scope of what may be claimed, but rather asdescriptions of features that may be specific to particularimplementations. Certain features that are described in thisspecification in the context of separate implementations can also beimplemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely,various features that are described in the context of a singleimplementation can also be implemented in multiple implementationsseparately or in any suitable sub-combination. Moreover, althoughfeatures may be described above as acting in certain combinations andeven initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimedcombination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and theclaimed combination may be directed to a sub-combination or variation ofa sub-combination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation and/or integration ofvarious system modules and components in the implementations describedabove should not be understood as requiring such separation and/orintegration in all implementations, and it should be understood that thedescribed program components and systems can generally be integratedtogether in a single software product or packaged into multiple softwareproducts.

Particular implementations of the subject matter have been described.Other implementations, alterations, and permutations of the describedimplementations are within the scope of the following claims as will beapparent to those skilled in the art. For example, the actions recitedin the claims can be performed in a different order and still achievedesirable results.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for processing data records, comprising: identifying, by a hardware processor, a provider contract associated with a particular account; in response to determining that the identified provider contract is associated with a periodic activity, creating, by the hardware processor, a rating request associated with the particular account based on the identified provider contract, the rating request representing a placeholder consumption item without specific account-related detail records and including a first instruction for processing at least one other consumption item associated with the particular account for a period of time associated with the periodic activity, the rating request further including a second instruction for triggering an action corresponding to the determined periodic activity at an external system to automatically generate the at least one other consumption item associated with the particular account; adding, by the hardware processor, the rating request associated with the particular account to an automated queue of consumption items for processing; processing, by the hardware processor, the added rating request associated with the particular account from the automated queue of consumption items, wherein processing the added rating request includes: transmitting a message to the external system for triggering the action corresponding to the determined periodic activity at the external system, wherein triggering the action at the external system includes initiating execution of a web service at the external system based on the second instruction in the rating request, the execution of the web service causing generation of at least one new or modified consumption item associated with the particular account at the external system; receiving, by the hardware processor and from the external system, the at least one new or modified consumption item; and adding, by the hardware processor, the at least one new or modified consumption item to the automated queue of consumption items, wherein the at least one new or modified consumption item are added after the added rating request in the automated queue of consumption items; and processing, by the hardware processor, the at least one new or modified consumption item associated with the particular account from the automated queue of consumption items based on the first instruction in the rating request.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein a consumption item is a call detail record related to a call or a message.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the provider contract associated with the particular account is performed in response to a mass activity, wherein the mass activity is performed for a plurality of provider contracts or accounts.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the mass activity is performed once in a billing cycle.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein processing consumption items includes processing consumption items by rating groups.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein rating requests are associated with a rating request-specific rating group.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein triggering the action at the external system further includes verifying information in the consumption items or accessing additional information associated with at least one of the consumption items or the particular account, wherein the triggered action results in at least one modified consumption item.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein executing the web service includes connecting the system to contract activation of the particular account.
 9. A computer-readable media, the computer-readable media comprising computer-readable instructions embodied on tangible, non-transitory media, the instructions operable when executed by at least one computer to: identify a provider contract associated with a particular account; in response to determining that the identified provider contract is associated with a periodic activity, create a rating request associated with the particular account based on the identified provider contract, the rating request representing a placeholder consumption item without specific account-related detail records and including a first instruction for processing at least one other consumption item associated with the particular account for a period of time associated with the periodic activity, the rating request further including a second instruction for triggering an action corresponding to the determined periodic activity at an external system to automatically generate the at least one other consumption item associated with the particular account; add the rating request associated with the particular account to an automated queue of consumption items for processing; process the added rating request associated with the particular account from the automated queue of consumption items, wherein processing the added rating request includes: transmitting a message to the external system for triggering the action corresponding to the determined periodic activity at the external system, wherein triggering the action at the external system includes initiating execution of a web service at the external system based on the second instruction in the rating request, the execution of the web service causing generation of at least one new or modified consumption item associated with the particular account at the external system; receiving, from the external system, the at least one new or modified consumption item; and adding the at least one new or modified consumption item to the automated queue of consumption items, wherein the at least one new or modified consumption item are added after the added rating request in the automated queue of consumption items; and process the at least one new or modified consumption item associated with the particular account from the automated queue of consumption items based on the first instruction in the rating request.
 10. The computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein a consumption item is a call detail record related to a call or a message.
 11. The computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein identifying the provider contract associated with the particular account is performed in response to a mass activity, wherein the mass activity is performed for a plurality of provider contracts or accounts.
 12. The computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein the mass activity is performed once in a billing cycle.
 13. The computer-readable media of claim 9, wherein processing consumption items includes processing consumption items by rating groups.
 14. The computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein rating requests are associated with a rating request-specific rating group.
 15. A computer system, comprising: memory operable to store content, including static and dynamic content; and at least one hardware processor interoperably coupled to the memory and operable to perform instructions to: identify a provider contract associated with a particular account; in response to determining that the identified provider contract is associated with a periodic activity, create a rating request associated with the particular account based on the identified provider contract, the rating request representing a placeholder consumption item without specific account-related detail records and including a first instruction for processing at least one other consumption item associated with the particular account for a period of time associated with the periodic activity, the rating request further including a second instruction for triggering an action corresponding to the determined periodic activity at an external system to automatically generate the at least one other consumption item associated with the particular account; add the rating request associated with the particular account to an automated queue of consumption items for processing; process the added rating request associated with the particular account from the automated queue of consumption items, wherein processing the added rating request includes: transmitting a message to the external system for triggering the action corresponding to the determined periodic activity at the external system, wherein triggering the action at the external system includes initiating execution of a web service at the external system based on the second instruction in the rating request, the execution of the web service causing generation of at least one new or modified consumption item associated with the particular account at the external system; receiving, from the external system, the at least one new or modified consumption item; and adding the at least one new or modified consumption item to the automated queue of consumption items, wherein the at least one new or modified consumption item are added after the added rating request in the automated queue of consumption items; and process the at least one new or modified consumption item associated with the particular account from the automated queue of consumption items based on the first instruction in the rating request.
 16. The computer system of claim 15, wherein a consumption item is a detail record related to call or a message.
 17. The computer system of claim 15, wherein identifying the provider contract associated with the particular account is performed in response to a mass activity, wherein the mass activity is performed for a plurality of provider contracts or accounts.
 18. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the mass activity is performed once in a billing cycle.
 19. The computer system of claim 15, wherein processing consumption items includes processing consumption items by rating groups. 